Apple has done something it hasn’t done before with a major release of OS X, announcing today during its iPad event that it will release OS X Mavericks, the latest version of its desktop OS, later today for free to all users.

Mavericks is available starting today for iMac and MacBook Pros from 2007 or later, 2008 MacBook Air, MacBook, and Mac Pro or later, and the 2009 Mac mini or later.

Apple first showed off Mavericks back in June at its WWDC developer conference and has since seeded several betas as well as Golden Master release followed by silent update to the GM release that could likely be the version Apple ships later this month. Despite not receiving a radical visual overhaul like iOS 7, OS X Mavericks includes over 200 new features and many big new user facing features like iBooks, improved multiple display support, iCloud Keychain, new Finder features, Maps, quick reply and lock screen notifications, auto-updating apps, and a number of under the hood enhancements to improve battery life and performance. (Full press release below)

OS X Mavericks Available Today Free from the Mac App Store

SAN FRANCISCO—October 22, 2013—Apple® today announced that OS X® Mavericks, the 10th major release of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, is available for free from the Mac App Store℠. With more than 200 new features, OS X Mavericks brings iBooks® and Maps to the Mac®, includes a new version of Safari®, enhances multi-display support, introduces Finder® Tabs and Tags and delivers new core technologies for breakthrough power efficiency and performance.

“Mavericks is an incredible release, which introduces significant new apps and features, while also improving the performance and battery life of your Mac,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We want every Mac user to experience the latest features, the most advanced technologies, and the strongest security. We believe the best way to do this is to begin a new era of personal computing software where OS upgrades are free.”

OS X Mavericks introduces innovative new features, including:

iBooks, which gives you instant access to your iBooks library, more than two million titles in the iBooks Store™, and works seamlessly across your devices;

Maps, which brings powerful mapping technology to the desktop and lets you plan a trip from your Mac and send it to your iPhone® for voice navigation on the road;

a streamlined Calendar that estimates travel time between appointments, and provides a map with weather forecast;

a new version of Safari with Shared Links, which helps you find what’s new on the web by consolidating links shared by people you follow on Twitter and LinkedIn;

iCloud® Keychain®, which safely stores your website usernames and passwords, credit card numbers and Wi-Fi passwords and pushes them to your trusted devices so you don’t need to remember them;

enhanced multi-display support, which makes using multiple displays easier and more powerful, with no configuration required;

interactive Notifications, allowing you to reply to a message, respond to a FaceTime® call or even delete an email without leaving the app you’re using;

Finder Tabs, which help unclutter your desktop by consolidating multiple Finder windows into a single window with multiple tabs; and

Finder Tags, a powerful new way to organize and find your files located on your Mac or in iCloud.

Mavericks also includes new core technologies that boost performance and improve the battery life of your Mac. Timer Coalescing and App Nap intelligently save energy and reduce power consumption. Compressed Memory automatically shrinks inactive data to keep your Mac fast and responsive. Mavericks also delivers significant performance enhancements for systems with integrated graphics through optimized OpenCL support and dynamic video memory allocation.

Pricing & Availability OS X Mavericks is available today for free from the Mac App Store. Any Mac capable of running OS X Mountain Lion can also run Mavericks. You can upgrade to Mavericks for free directly from OS X Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion. For a complete list of system requirements and compatible systems, please visit www.apple.com/osx/specs. OS X Server 3.0 requires Mavericks and is available from the Mac App Store for $19.99 (US).

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.